There is no doubt that new approaches and ways of thinking in corporate corridors are vital. As Charles Leadbeater discusses in his book We-Think ‘this closed model of leadership is increasingly ill-equipped to cope with the demands faced by large organisations’.

There may be nothing particularly innovative about the Volt and it may well become a glorious failure, but it’s the fact that after so many years of the closed model of leadership, GM has recognised that its only future lies in a far more alert, open and participative approach to business and innovation. And of course it is correct to compare this to the dilemmas facing the offline print media industry (and particularly the newspaper industry).

Sticking ones head in the sand is ultimately not a long-term strategy. Print media may well excuse that they have so much to lose but as is becoming more obvious they’re likely to lose anyway – if they don’t shake off the shackles of tradition.